CCDP Certification Study Material

Updated: Jun 18, 2019

I provide all of the Cisco Certified Design Professional Study material

So over the last 3 months I have been studying for the Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) in order to re-new my CCNP Routing & Switching certification which is due for re-renewal in the next month or so. The reason for CCDP is I enjoy designing vs. just pure configuration, and also by obtaining my CCNP routing and switching I already have 2 the of 3 required tests completed.

My strategy generally includes using multiple sources, like books, white papers, and video lectures. In addition, I will look at the syllabus and search for the terms on google to find a video or whitepaper on a certain subject, but I also look to the forums to see if anyone has suggested any good content. So below is all of the content I have found, however I have not viewed or read everything in detail as it would take a lot of time.

Typically I will read about a topic, possibly lab it if I am having trouble understanding it or there is a need to lab it. Then I will usually have a video lecture about it and read some other supplemental material. Always take notes on every chapter and lecture to review later.

The only problem I found with CCDP is the book is a "foundation learning guide" not the "official certification guide" which looks like it means no practice-tests; although the chapters did have some practice questions (practice questions help with comprehension and information retention). So I had to use practice tests from my other official certification guides, like CCNA Security, CCNP Route & Switch and CCDA. Hopefully that will be enough. I found there to be a good mix of cisco only content and general vendor neutral type philosophy in the foundation learning guide.

Books:

The first 2 were new books I fully read through specifically for this certification, the other few are ones I had previously read but reviewed for diversity and completeness.

Video Content:

I only used the pluralsight.com CCNP/CCDA/CCDP courses, but those cost money. You can find some useful youtube videos from INE, TechWise TV etc. I guess CBT nuggets and howtonetworking have video courses for CCDP as well.

White papers:

So users on the forums were very helpful with providing recommendations. Most of these were recommended by other people. Some of the design zone stuff I had already read but there were also good relevant recommendations. In my opinion an architect/design engineer should be proficient at reading and comprehending documentation like this.

Conclusion:

I hope this helps anyone looking to expand their design knowledge or pursue the CCDP certification. Studying has been taking up my time so this is why my posting has been absent since March which I apologize for. I plan to take the test at Cisco Live, so hopefully I can pass it !

Edit: 6/17/19 - I Passed ! my weak points were network services and security, I would say the test was probably easier than the CCNP route exam as it did not have any labs but there are some pretty tricky questions. Be thorough and review all topics on the blue print before going in. Sadly next year in February 2020 the design specific track will be eliminated and combined into the new tracks where there will be a specific design test (enterprise, security, wireless etc.).